Mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 (most of the land belonged to a brother of
William the Conqueror), the Parish has had a long and chequered history. For much
of the time, its prosperity was linked to agriculture, mining and quarrying and its
location on the banks of the River Tamar. The building of the railway, and its spectacular
arched bridge, played a part in the early 20th Century.

Mining and quarrying were important in Mediaeval Times, but flourished in the late
eighteenth century and for the whole of the nineteenth. Products included copper,
silver, tin, lead and arsenic. Granite from local quarries was used for paving stones
in many British cities, part of Plymouth breakwater and also international destinations
such as St Petersburg naval harbour.